The Story of my Marine Stepson

I miss my stepson. Marine Lance Corporal Nickolas Schiavoni was killed near the Syrian border on 15 November 2005 by a suicide bomber. Later facts revealed that he was disabled and drugged with antidepressants while out in the field. His disability stemmed from an injury he suffered in boot camp in North Carolina. Nick`s leg swelled up during the rigors of training. His performance was diminished to the point where he had to go to the Infirmary. There he was told his ankle was twisted...spit on it and get back out there and run. It seemed there was an issue with his footspeed, he couldn`t keep up. They gave him the regulation abuse, he ran and the leg got worse. Eventually, he had to return to the Infirmary. They decided to x-ray the leg the second time around. The x-ray showed that Nick`s femur had a hairline fracture. So, he had to lay up for 6 weeks. Meanwhile, his wife and kids were with his Mom and I in New England. His boot camp experience was very bad and very long. His 1.5 yr. old daughter was born with three large holes in her heart. She needed open heart surgery. The Marines let him come home for that. But upon his return he was unsure of how to proceed with life at that point...stay in the Marines or return to his wife and small children. He was only a recruit, not a full Marine, so he thought he had the option. The Marines showed him otherwise. After he made the request that he couldn`t cut it, he was hurt, the Marines proceeded to break his spirit with intense abuse and being made to stand outside every night for 11 nights,then a full days work during the day. 6 months of boot camp. On his first tour he was wounded at the end, his leg was bothering him and he was scheduled for rotation home. For some reason the Marines took him off a plane headed for Germany and put him back in the field for an extra week; it was then that he got some shrapnel in his arm. He died on his second tour, I hear that a lot; the second tour kills more than the first. The Marines failed him, so did his Government.